


Payback

by Duskythesomething



Category: Asagao Academy: Normal Boots Club
Genre: F/M, Nokemon, Pokemon FireRed Nuzlocke references, tbh it's just a lot of pokemon stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-11-21 10:01:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11355168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duskythesomething/pseuds/Duskythesomething





	Payback

"Suck my crit, you Guidjit!" Jared yelled from across the room, sprawled on his back in bed, Glintendo DS in white-knuckled hands above him. Hana glanced over at him from where she was reading on the couch, concerned.

"Hey uh.. Jared? Are you doing okay over there?" She bit her lip, waiting, but no response came. "What does that stuff mean?"

Jared groaned, but it was towards the game, not her, "You don't need to know, Hana. I'm fine."

Hana shook her head, putting her book down and turning to face him, arms resting on the back of the couch. She puffed up her cheeks in a pout, "I don't really believe that, Jared."

He huffed, eyes flickering to look at her for a few seconds, before moving back to the screen in his hand, "I'm fine, I promise. You can go back to reading, I'll try to be quieter."

When Hana didn't reply, he looked over at her. She was sitting back on her knees, arms crossed, pout still prevalent. She huffed, mimicking him, "I want to know."

Jared groaned, obviously not liking how this conversation was turning, "I'm just struggling with this Nokemon Puzlocke. My rival's a bit higher leveled than I was expecting, and I wasn't prepared." He looked back at his game.

Hana, although she had been becoming much more knowledgeable with game terminology, had no clue what a Puzlocke was. She also didn't want to ask Jared, fearful that he might get even more upset. So, she turned to one of the best Nokemon Masters she knew: Jimmy.

"Hmm.. I'll be back in a couple minutes, okay?" She called to Jared, slipping on her shoes. He hummed in response before letting out a string of curse words at his game, shaking the DS in frustration.

Only minutes later, Hana stood in front of Jimmy's door, knocking gently. When it pulled open, he looked surprised to see her, but welcomed her in. His room had a collection of Nokemon plushies strewn around it, and she found it both adorable and endearing.

"What's up, Hana?" Jimmy plopped down in a spinning desk chair, pulling a blanket around himself. He was already in pajamas, since it was getting later in the evening already.

"What's a Puzlocke?" She sat down on one of the beds, it looked like his roommate, whichever Hidden Block boy that was, wasn't there.

Jimmy's face lit up, and he began to speak about seventeen miles per minute. Hana had to reach over and grab his arm to get his attention, "Slower, please? Jared's doing one of those and I want to know how to help him, he's getting really angry at it and I don't understand why."

He laughed, "Gotcha! Okay, you know how Nokemon works, right? At least the basics?" When she nodded, he continued, "Well, a Puzlocke is a special challenge some players do to make the gameplay more interesting. There's a set of rules that the player places for themselves that can make or break your experience."

Hana nodded, already wishing she had some way to take notes. Oh yeah, her phone! Pulling it out and motioning for Jimmy to hold on, she opened up a notepad on her phone and began to type out what he'd told her already. Seeing this, he laughed, the sound bubbling out of him joyfully. 

When she'd finished, she smiled at him and nodded for him to continue.

"The rules a player sets for themselves can be whatever the player wants, really, but there are some common ones most often used. They include, catching only the first Nokemon seen on a new route, nicknaming every single Nokemon caught, not catching or using multiples of the same Nokemon throughout the entire game," Jimmy paused to let her type for a moment, "and whenever your Nokemon faints in battle, it is considered dead and must be released, never to be seen again."

Hana gasped at him, "Dead!?"

He nodded, a grim expression on his face, "That's why it's so difficult. It can be painfully easy for your Nokemon to faint, and when they do, you can't get them back. That's why Puzlocke players tend to stockpile on extra Nokemon at the beginning of new areas in game. I've lost many friends to Puzlocke playthroughs."

"Why would anybody do that!?" Hana mumbled, thinking about her own team of cute Nokemon on her copy of Nokemon Sky that Mai had gotten her, "I would rather die than lose my Nokemon."

Jimmy laughed again, sitting back and pulling his blanket tighter around him, "It makes the game more challenging. Not everyone gets attached to their Nokemon like we do. If you want to help Jared, remind him to save, often. And maybe have a guide on hand of trainer battle levels, just in case."

When Hana left, she had a few useful guides of trainer levels and Nokemon movesets tucked away on her phone browser. As she left, she called behind her, "Thank you, Jimmy!"

He waved to her, "Bye! Good luck to you and Jared!"

When she returned to Jared's room, she could hear him yelling angrily through the door. Pushing it open and slipping inside before the entire dorm could hear him, she stared at what she found.

"FUCK YOU! THE STRANGE ELECTRIC APPLIANCE WARNED ME AND I STILL FUCKED UP!" He screeched at his DS, sitting up in bed now instead of lying on his back like before.

"Jared..?" She began to inch forwards, slipping her shoes off and setting them by the door, but she stopped when Jared looked up at her, eyes filled with rage and despair.

"I can't do this Hana, I can't."

Confused, she finished taking her shoes off and moved to sit beside him on the bed. She gently took the DS from him, after noticing his hands trembling, looking down at the screens.

While she wasn't the best at Nokemon battling, Shane had helped her with her type matchups and strategies before, so she wasn't completely incompetent.

Jared sniffled, looking pathetic as he scooted over to the corner of the bed, snuggling down into some pillows and blankets. Hana moved to curl up in his arms so he could watch, and she could play. He was nervous, and she was ready to give it her all!

After spending at least forty-five minutes studying each of Jared's Nokemon, their moves, stats, the contents in his bag, and his opponent's movesets, she was ready to try.

"Why are you switching to Nyarth? He's so weak!" Jared cried into her hair, almost trembling again.

"Because of a certain move he has. You're facing a ghost Nokemon gym, I don't know why you weren't using him before."

"Because he's super weak and all of his moves suck!"

Hana chuckled, "Not all of them. Just watch. And your Nyarth is a girl, by the way."

What Jared had seemed to forget was, ghost Nokemon were super vulnerable to dark type attacks. Since Nyarth was a normal type, the opposing Nokemon's ghost type attacks wouldn't affect it, and it could use dark type attacks to deal heavy damage.

The opponent's Gangar was much faster than his Nyarth, lovingly named "Narbles", but this was entirely to her advantage. The Gangar went to attack, and failed due to typing, and Nyarth released its power.

"Payback!? I didn't even think of that!" Jared's eyes widened, "Isn't that where-"

"Your Nokemon's attack is doubled in power if it's move goes after the opponent. Since it's a dark type move, it does double damage." She grinned, pleased to have been helpful. A few turns later, the battle had ended, and the gym leader's team had succumbed to the tiny cat Nokemon.

Jared took the game back from her after that, and returned to the Nokemon center to release a team member who had met its end in battle. That must've been why he was so upset.

"Goodbye, Sedundnes." Jared mumbled, obviously heartbroken, "You were one of my best and strongest."

Hana hugged him gently, letting him grieve for a minute, before taking the game from him. She saved a few times, and put it aside for the night. She yawned, "You should get some sleep."

"Please stay with me?" Jared's hand moved to grab her wrist when she stood, "Satch won't care, I promise, and tomorrow's a Saturday!"

Even Hana couldn't argue with that. Out of all of their friends, Satch was the one least likely to care that she had stayed over. So, she stole some clothes from Jared, changed, and settled into his arms to sleep that night.

Some time later, Jared mumbled, "Hey, Hana?"

"Yeah, Jared?"

"Thank you. It means a lot to me that you aren't judging me for playing Nokemon or doing Puzlockes or being upset about my Nokemon fainting. And.. it also meant a lot to me that you helped with that gym battle. I guess I was just so stressed about Sedundnes that I didn't stop to think properly." He nuzzled against her, burying his face in her hair.

Hana smiled, snuggling closer into his arms, "Jared, I love Nokemon, and I wouldn't want to see any of mine die, either. While I don't personally like the idea of Puzlockes for myself, Jimmy helped me figure out what they are and how to play them earlier. Plus, Shane was just telling me yesterday to keep sharp on my strategy skills, so I'm glad they came in handy."

Jared hummed, pulling her closer, and pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her head.

"Now, let's go to sleep you big nerd." Hana looked up at him and kissed his nose, before snuggling back in close.

"Goodnight, Hana."

"Goodnight, Jared." She hesitated, before continuing, "I love you."

She felt Jared's body jolt beside her in surprise, but he smoothly replied, "I love you too, little miss Nokemon master.~"


End file.
